


growing on me

by scribbleface



Series: HSMTMTS [5]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21800584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribbleface/pseuds/scribbleface
Summary: “So, Gina told me you hate black and green.” Carlos spoke up, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Is that true?”Seb almost tripped over nothing out of shock, his eyes wide. “What? Hate? No, I...” He squinted his eyes as if he was thinking. “Hate is a strong word.”“If you don’t like black and green then why are you wearing that shirt?” Carlos asked, giving Seb a thankful smile as he held the auditorium door open.“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, sort of.” Seb admitted as they made their way along the rows of chairs, finally sitting in a row close to the stage.
Relationships: Carlos/Seb Matthew-Smith
Series: HSMTMTS [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548121
Comments: 5
Kudos: 97





	growing on me

“You’re wearing black and green.” Seb whipped around to see Ashlyn and Nini behind him, looking him up and down curiously. 

“I thought I’d change things up a bit.” Seb tried to respond as nonchalantly as he could, straightening his back with a smile. “Plus, it’s a nice shirt.” He pulled at the bottom of his black and green checkered button up, glancing down at it approvingly. 

“You hate black and green.” Nini said, a knowing glint in her eyes. “Why do you suddenly—“ The interrogation was interrupted by Carlos bounding through the bomb shelter door, papers practically pouring out of his binder. His glasses sat lopsided on his face, and he had a frazzled look in his eyes. 

“Seb! I like your shirt!” Carlos immediately brightened up at the sight of the other boy, a wide but tired grin forming on his face. Seb ignored the smug looks from Ashlyn and Nini out of the corner of his eye. 

“Thank you!” Seb replied, clasping his hands together. “Oh! Your glasses.” Seb took a step forward and hesitantly brought his hand up, fixing Carlos’ glasses in a gentler manner than necessary. The two locked eyes and Seb felt his heart flutter. 

“Thanks.” Carlos said softly, his eyes flitting from Seb’s lips to his eyes. They stood there for a moment, everything around them seemingly fading out of existence until Carlos heard a voice call his name, snapping him out of his trance. 

“Carlos!” Miss Jenn peered out the bomb shelter, her eyes going wide. “Oh, pardon me. I didn’t mean to interrupt..” She looked from Carlos to Ashlyn and Nini. Carlos whirled around, a panicked expression on his face. 

“You weren’t interrupting anything! I’ll be there in a second!” He called, waving his hand dismissively. He turned back to Seb, smiling shyly at him before giving a warmer smile to the girls. He cleared his throat, turning on his heels and practically scurrying back into the bomb shelter, leaving Seb a blushing mess.

“Are you sure you just wanted to ‘change things up’ Sebby?” Ashlyn smirked, nudging him in the arm. 

Seb pursed his lips, taking his gaze away from the bomb shelter door with red cheeks. “Okay so, Carlos may have mentioned that I look good in green because it brings out my eyes.” Seb mumbled, scrunching up his nose.

“Oh, we know.” Ashlyn laughed, sharing a smirk with Nini. “Plus, he’s said so much more than that.” 

Seb went wide eyed. “What? What else has he said?” He scurried over time the girls, who merely giggled in response.

“I’ll tell you after rehearsal, let’s head in.” Ashlyn said with a smile. 

“You better not tell him I wore this shirt just for him.” Seb said, but neither girl responded, merely shaking their heads and following Seb into the rehearsal room. Carlos and Miss Jenn were positioning the boxes quietly, duct tape in hand in case they needed to mark something. The kids plopped their things down, joining Bianca, Gina, Charity, and Charlie as they messed with the props and the piano, waiting for the others to show up. 

Seb sat at the piano, playing a random tune before snapping his head up and glancing at the others. “Any requests?” He asked with a playful grin, his giddiness fading when he caught Ashlyn and Nini whispering something to Carlos, the two of them grinning and giggling while Carlos was bright red. Seb ignored his heart hammering in his chest, instead taking Charlie’s request to sing If I Could Tell Her from Dear Evan Hansen. He sang beautifully, ignoring the others as they gathered around the piano to better hear him as he sang. He snuck a glance at Carlos as he rested his arms atop the piano, a small smile forming as he listened closely. Seb couldn’t help but blush, training his eyes onto the keys of the piano instead of the cute boy beside him. 

The sound of the piano faded as the remaining cast mates bounded into the room, their laughter and chatter booming as the door closed behind them. “Alright, everyone!” Miss Jenn clapped her hands together, stepping atop the stage with an award winning smile. “Does anyone remember what number we’re going through today?” It had been a few days since they had rehearsal, considering they had a four day weekend in which Miss Jenn decided to let them enjoy themselves. 

“Isn’t it Status Quo?” Seb asked with a meek raise of his hand. He had only remembered because he was a bit nervous to sing in front of everyone. Sure, he adored everything theatre but he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious when it came to being Sharpay, especially since he was already the butt of many jokes before taking on this role. He didn’t want to see or hear people criticizing him again. 

“It is! Thank you, Seb.” Miss Jenn said before taking a seat. “Now, lets start from the top. I hope you all remember the blocking we were working on before our long weekend.” She said, shooting Carlos a slightly tense smile as he sat beside her, holding a notebook and pen in hand. 

Everyone got in their places, impressing Miss Jenn with what they remembered. She began to feel a bit more at ease, sinking into her chair as she watched the children rehearse, a sense of pride washing over her. Carlos practically felt the same, beaming in his seat, notebook and pen long forgotten as he merely watched his peers, in awe of their talents. Despite saying he loved everyone equally, Ashlyn couldn’t help recognize how Carlos perked up when Seb began his solo. She was merely watching from the side as Ms. Darbus didn’t have a part in this number, something she was a bit grateful for considering she didn’t think of herself as graceful. Instead, she watched Carlos and Miss Jenn’s reaction, keeping Carlos’ love struck expression in the back of her head to tell Seb about later. 

Rehearsals wrapped up early; thanks to Miss Jenn being in a good mood from the kids nailing their run through the group numbers. They all went around the room, talking in small groups as they gathered their things in an attempt to be the first out the door. Gina immediately headed to Carlos and Ricky, catching a glimpse of their conversation.

“I’m just saying, I don’t think it’d be possible to do a Hippy Flip and a pirouette consecutively.” Carlos argued, before turning around to greet Gina. “Hey! What’s up?”

Gina merely shot him a sly grin before locking eyes with Ashlyn, their grin widening. 

“What’s going on?” Carlos said, glancing between the pair. 

“Nothing, but just so you know, Seb hates green and black.” Gina shrugged and pursed their lips, sauntering over to Ashlyn and whispering something to her, causing her to light up and nod before scrambling over to Seb and Nini. 

“Gina, what are you doing?” Carlos ran over and grabbed their shoulder, his eyes as wide as saucers. “What did you say to her? Why is she talking to Seb?”

“Chill out, Carlos.” Gina reassured him, taking his hands into theirs. “All will be revealed soon.” They said, coming up behind Nini and resting their chin on her head, wrapping their arms around the smaller girl. 

Carlos took a deep breath before walking over to the others, gripping the strap of his bag tightly. Most of the kids had cleared out, now leaving only his friends which was lucky for him. If he tried to talk to Seb, he atleast wouldn’t make a fool out of himself in front of everyone. 

Ashlyn, Seb, Nini, and Gina seemed to be in a heated conversation, with mostly Seb shaking his head and protesting whatever the others were trying to get him to do. The conversation halted to a stop when Carlos came up beside Nini, his smile fading. “Uh, I could come back if you guys need to talk about something?” He said, wringing his hands together.

Gina looked at Nini, who looked at Ashlyn, who looked at Seb, wordlessly urging him to do something. Carlos just watched it all go down, a confused expression plastered on his face. “Carlos,” Seb finally spoke up, his tone nervous. “Can I talk to you alone?” 

Carlos looked at the others who seemed to be pointedly avoiding his gaze. He was just getting more and more confused. “Sure. Okay.” Seb made his way through the others, Carlos following close behind. “Where are we going?”

“To the auditorium.” Seb said in his usual cheery tone, though Carlos could tell something was off, he seemed fidgety. A comfortable silence lulled over the pair; the only sound being the squeaking of their shoes against the floor echoing through the empty halls. 

“So, Gina told me you hate black and green.” Carlos spoke up, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Is that true?”

Seb almost tripped over nothing out of shock, his eyes wide. “What? Hate? No, I...” He squinted his eyes as if he was thinking. “Hate is a strong word.”

“If you don’t like black and green then why are you wearing that shirt?” Carlos asked, giving Seb a thankful smile as he held the auditorium door open. 

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, sort of.” Seb admitted as they made their way along the rows of chairs, finally sitting in a row close to the stage. 

“Oh? I mean, I know I dress well but did we really need to be alone to talk about clothes?” Carlos forced a nervous laugh, tapping his foot.

“I don’t wanna talk about clothes, even if you do have an amazing sense of fashion.” Seb smiled. “I wore this shirt because you said green brought out my eyes.”

“Oh!” Carlos lit up, leaning slightly forward. “Well, it does! I mean, if you could see yourself, you’d understand but the blue-green color of your eyes really stands out against the green and black.” Carlos explained, a small smile on his lips. “But is that why you wore it? Because it brings out your eyes?” Carlos asked with a chuckle.

“Carlos,” Seb was no longer smiling. “I wore the shirt because I wanted to look good. For you.” He trailed off awkwardly. “I don’t really like black or green on me but you said it brought out my eyes and I wanted to wear this shirt in hopes that you might...I dunno? Think I look good?”

“Why would you want me to think you looked good? I mean, obviously you look good! You always look good but why would you...?” Carlos trailed off as Seb put his hand over his own. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Seb said softly, looking terrified as their eyes locked. “So...”

“I like you.” Carlos blurted out, feeling his face heat up as Seb’s grip on him tightened. “Like, like like you. In a romantic way. Like Romeo and Juliet or Simon and Bram or Vanessa and Usnavi or—“ Carlos was cut off by Seb surging forward and pressing his lips to Carlos’.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your confession, you were just too cute.” 

Carlos opened his mouth to respond but all that came out was a quiet, strained noise before he was hiding his face in the crook of Seb’s neck, unable to stop grinning. “Stop it, I’m not cute.” Carlos melted when he felt Seb’s hand come up and rest on his back, rubbing small circles into the fabric of his shirt.

“You’re so cute.” Seb shot back. 

“Well, so are you.” Carlos mumbled. “You look cute in any shirt you wear, so you don’t have to wear stuff you hate just for me, okay?” 

“I dunno.” Seb glanced fondly at Carlos. “It’s kinda growing on me.”


End file.
